


Complications

by JessicaThrasher



Series: Dragon Age Series [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Blood, Comedy, F/M, Mage Origin, Magic, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2014-07-08
Packaged: 2018-02-08 00:47:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1920381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessicaThrasher/pseuds/JessicaThrasher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Billie Amell's adventure: from a little girl to an apprentice, from a Circle mage to a Grey Warden. She knew she wasn't meant for a normal life, anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Complications

For as long as she could remember, Billie Amell knew she wasn’t normal.

Her parents weren’t together, so she had to split her time between her mother and father. She always questioned this, but her mother simply told her “we don’t get along” and her father avoided the subject altogether. It wasn’t until she was older when she came to the realization that she was the product of a drunken one-night-stand between a runaway Kirkwall noblewoman and a Ferelden soldier, who could barely stand each other unless booze was involved. (You can’t tell this story to a little girl, now can you?)

Billie’s mother, Revka Amell, hated her nobility almost as much as she hated Kirkwall. She loathed being told what to do, how to dress, which party to attend, who to associate with, and who to ignore altogether. Revka loved her family, but there was no way she could tell them the noble life wasn‘t for her, so the day she came of age, she caught the first ship out of the Free Marches without a word to anyone. She didn’t write to her family until two weeks later when she decided to settle down in Denerim. In her letters, she explained life in Kirkwall wasn’t for her and it was time to live her own life instead of having it planned out for her, and she hoped they could find it in their hearts to forgive her.

Fausten Amell, Revka’s father, sent her a letter threatening to disown her if she didn’t return home, saying it would shame their family if word got out that she ran away. His reaction didn’t surprise her, as he was very proud of his family’s status, but it still hurt her deeply. Her brother Damion sent her a letter, too, except this one made her happy; in great detail, his letter said he was proud of her decision to choose her own path and reassured her that Fausten wasn’t really going to disown her, that their father was just upset with her disappearing without a moment’s notice and he missed her terribly. Before ending the letter with his signature, he wished her well in whatever decisions she would make and to hope she’d at least come back every once in a while to visit them in Kirkwall. She kept both letters, even her father’s.

Revka took a job as a waitress in the Gnawed Noble Tavern (she always loved a little irony). It was this tavern where she met Billie’s father, Franklin Ashwin.

Franklin was a tall man with blond curly hair, large hazel eyes, high cheekbones, a wide jaw, a narrow nose, and lean muscles. Many women thought he was _very_ handsome…up until they started talking to him. He was a soldier in King Maric’s army, but he wasn’t nearly as social as his comrades. Whenever the soldiers were on leave, he’d come to Gnawed Noble Tavern, usually alone, and always ordered ale. He always seemed like his mind was somewhere else and sometimes when he’d speak to someone, especially someone he barely knew, he wouldn’t look directly at them.

Revka always thought Franklin was strange, but she remained polite and civil to him, like she did with everyone else. A couple months after she met him, he came into the tavern around the time her shift was over and he looked more depressed than ever. That day, Revka had received some very decent tips and generally had a good day, so the moment she saw him brooding in the corner, she took pity on him. She sat with him, bought drinks, and chatted with him, hoping to ease him into some comfort. After a while, he began to open up to her.

Just a few days before, a friend of Franklin’s had passed away; the man was poisoned, he told Revka, and he died a slow and painful death. Revka sympathetically offered him another round of drinks, which he gladly accepted. Several mugs of ale later, she walked him home and accompanied him for the night when lo and behold! Billie was conceived.

Once Revka found out she was with child, she panicked for several days before working up the courage to tell Franklin. He was shocked for a moment, but warmed up quickly to the situation. He wanted to help out Revka everyway he could, so he quit the army to stay in Denerim to support the mother of his child. Revka wrote a letter to her family to let them know. Surprisingly, she received letters several weeks later from the whole Amell family, even from her cousin Leandra whom she didn’t get along with very well, and they were more than supportive of her having a baby (even though it was out of wedlock).

Revka and Franklin attempted to develop some sort of relationship during the pregnancy, but it didn’t work out. Revka was still young and trying to figure out what she wanted out of life while Franklin was slightly older, but felt it was wrong to pursue a woman he had little in common with just because she was having his child. They had great respect for one another, though, and worked out a way where they could both equally spend time with the child once it was born. They also spent several months arguing over names, toys, and furniture. In fact, arguing was what they mostly did when they were brought together.

When Revka went into labor, Franklin didn’t leave her side. He let her squeeze his hand during contractions and talked her through it all. Then the baby was born: a healthy girl with golden hair and wide blue eyes. Franklin and Revka came to a compromise and named her Belinda Ashwin Amell, Billie Amell for short.

Growing up wasn’t easy for Billie, especially having to split her time with her parents. Ever since she learned to crawl, she would manage to get herself in trouble with her curiosity. She would often spill things, become covered in food, and even almost buried herself in dirt looking for treasure (one day, Revka gave Billie at least fourteen baths because of how many times she’d dirty herself up). There were lots of other children to play with in Denerim, but like her father, she wasn’t very social, so whenever Revka or Franklin allowed her to play outside, she would bring a book to read in the shade.

When Billie was four, Revka fell in love with a wealthy merchant, Byron Hallman, and married him. Not long afterward, she gave birth to twin boys, Dominic and Felix. Two years later, she gave birth again, a girl named Cathryn. For a while, things seemed perfect.

A few months after Billie turned seven, she started having vivid dreams. Sometimes they were about good things, but most of the time, she had nightmares where a demonic looking creature was chasing her through the woods. It would try to tempt her with things she knew were impossible to retrieve: griffins, her whole family together, excessive knowledge, and above all else, to feel normal. Even in her own home, she felt out of place. Even in Franklin’s home when it was just the two of them, she felt like she didn’t belong.

The saddest day of the family’s life was the day they discovered Billie had magical talent. She and her two half-brothers were outside playing, and she didn’t know how it happened, but a puddle became frozen solid _while_ she was playing in it. Revka watched, her blue eyes in shock, at her daughter freezing the water by simply touching it.

The templars arrived three days later. They took her to Kinloch Hold, Ferelden’s Circle of Magi, where she would learn to practice and control her magic with others of her kind.

Revka wrote to Kirkwall of the news, whereas Franklin moved closer to the Circle so he could visit his daughter. There was no way he was going to let the Chantry take away the only good thing he ever had in his life. Mage or no, she was still his daughter, but at least now, she didn’t feel alone in the Circle.


End file.
